Evaluation of Wet Distillers Grains for Finishing Cattle

A feeding trial was conducted with 870-lb steers fed 137 days to evaluate replacing cracked corn with dry and wet distillers grains with solubles (DGS) as feed for finishing cattle. Dry DGS was evaluated at 16% of diet dry matter. Wet DGS (WDGS) was evaluated at 14.6%, 26.2%, and 37.5% of diet dry matter. Control diets were supplemented with urea or a combination of urea and soybean meal. Feeding 16% dry DGS or 14.6% wet DGS increased rate of gain and tended to increase carcass fatness. Increasing the amount of wet DGS in the diet decreased feed intake, reduced gain, and improved feed conversion. The calculated net energy for gain values for dry and wet DGS were .92 and 1.5 times the energy value of corn grain. Economic returns declined slightly as the percentage of wet DGS increased in the diet, but remained above the two diets without DGS. The average benefits from feeding wet DGS averaged $25, $21, and $19 per head for steers fed 14.6%, 26.2%, and 35.7%, respectively, based on a formula price for wet DGS related to price of corn and including a charge for transportation of the wet feed.

Site and Age Condition the Growth Responses to Climate and Drought of Relict Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii Populations in Southern Spain

To assess if tree age may modulate the main climatic drivers of radial growth, two relict Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii populations (Maria, most xeric site; Magina, least xeric site) were sampled in southern Spain near the limits of the species range. Tree-ring width residual chronologies for two age groups (mature trees, age <= 100 years (minimum 40 years); old trees, age > 100 years) were built to evaluate their responses to climate by relating them to monthly precipitation and temperature and a drought index (DRI) using correlation and response functions. We found that drought is the main driver of growth of relict P. nigra populations, but differences between sites and age classes were also observed. First, growth in the most xeric site depends on the drought severity during the previous autumn and the spring of the year of tree-ring formation, whereas in the relatively more mesic site growth is mainly enhanced by warm and wet conditions in spring. Second, growth of mature trees responded more to drought severity than that of old trees. Our findings indicate that drought severity will mainly affect growth of relict P. nigra populations dominated by mature trees in xeric sites. This conclusion may also apply to similar mountain Mediterranean conifer relicts.

Beneficial effects of adiponectin on periodontal ligament cells under normal and regenerative conditions

Type 2 diabetes and obesity are increasing worldwide and linked to periodontitis, a chronic disease which is characterized by the irreversible destruction of the tooth-supporting tissues, that is, periodontium. The mechanisms underlying the association of diabetes mellitus and obesity with periodontal destruction and compromised periodontal healing are not well understood, but decreased plasma levels of adiponectin, as found in diabetic and obese individuals, might be a critical mechanistic link. The aim of this in vitro study was to examine the effects of adiponectin on periodontal ligament (PDL) cells under normal and regenerative conditions, and to study the regulation of adiponectin and its receptors in these cells. Adiponectin stimulated significantly the expression of growth factors and extracellular matrix, proliferation, and in vitro wound healing, reduced significantly the constitutive tumor necrosis factor-α expression, and caused a significant upregulation of its own expression. The beneficial actions of enamel matrix derivative on a number of PDL cell functions critical for periodontal regeneration were partially enhanced by adiponectin. The periodontopathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis inhibited the adiponectin expression and stimulated the expression of its receptors. In conclusion, reduced levels of adiponectin, as found in type 2 diabetes and obesity, may compromise periodontal health and healing.

Comparison of morphological and rheological conditions between conventional and eversion carotid endarterectomy using computational fluid dynamics - a pilot study

PURPOSE To compare postoperative morphological and rheological conditions after eversion carotid endarterectomy versus conventional carotid endarterectomy using computational fluid dynamics. BASIC METHODS Hemodynamic metrics (velocity, wall shear stress, time-averaged wall shear stress and temporal gradient wall shear stress) in the carotid arteries were simulated in one patient after conventional carotid endarterectomy and one patient after eversion carotid endarterectomy by computational fluid dynamics analysis based on patient specific data. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Systolic peak of the eversion carotid endarterectomy model showed a gradually decreased pressure along the stream path, the conventional carotid endarterectomy model revealed high pressure (about 180 Pa) at the carotid bulb. Regions of low wall shear stress in the conventional carotid endarterectomy model were much larger than that in the eversion carotid endarterectomy model and with lower time-averaged wall shear stress values (conventional carotid endarterectomy: 0.03-5.46 Pa vs. eversion carotid endarterectomy: 0.12-5.22 Pa). CONCLUSIONS Computational fluid dynamics after conventional carotid endarterectomy and eversion carotid endarterectomy disclosed differences in hemodynamic patterns. Larger studies are necessary to assess whether these differences are consistent and might explain different rates of restenosis in both techniques.

Long-term trends in invertebrate–habitat relationships under protected and fished conditions

Few studies examine the long-term effects of changing predator size and abundance on the habitat associations of resident organisms despite that this knowledge is critical to understand the ecosystem effects of fishing. Marine reserves offer the opportunity to determine ecosystem-level effects of manipulated predator densities, while parallel monitoring of adjacent fished areas allows separating these effects from regional-scale change. Relationships between two measures of benthic habitat structure (reef architecture and topographic complexity) and key invertebrate species were followed over 17 years at fished and protected subtidal rocky reefs associated with two southern Australian marine reserves. Two commercially harvested species, the southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) and blacklip abalone (Haliotis rubra) were initially weakly associated with habitat structure across all fished and protected sites. The strength of association with habitat for both species increased markedly at protected sites 2 years after marine reserve declaration, and then gradually weakened over subsequent years. The increasing size of rock lobster within reserves apparently reduced their dependency on reef shelters as refuges from predation. Rising predation by fish and rock lobster in the reserves corresponded with weakening invertebrate–habitat relationships for H. rubra and sea urchins (Heliocidaris erythrogramma). These results emphasise that animal–habitat relationships are not necessarily stable through time and highlight the value of marine reserves as reference sites. Our work shows that fishery closures to enhance populations of commercially important and keystone species should be in areas with a range of habitat features to accommodate shifting ecological requirements with ontogenesis.

Assessment of bovine adipose-derived stem cells osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation in Normoxic and hypoxic conditions

Background: The differentiation of ADSC is regulated by many factors, including oxygen tensions. Evidences have suggested that low oxygen tension or hypoxia is involved in the osteogenic, adipogenic differentiations of MSCs. Expansion and induction of ADSCs under hypoxia generally result in enhanced osteogenic, differentiation. Therefore, we analyzed bovine ADSC differentiations in Normoxia and hypoxia conditions Methodology: Recently (<8h) cow tail from a slaughterhouse, take out some fat from the tail and fat cells was isolated by using for isolation of ADSC protocol, the expansion cells were put into osteogenic and adipogenic medium for 3 weeks in hypoxia and normoxia conditions separately and characterized by Von kossa, Alizarin red and Oil red O staining and further by using real-time PCR by using primers of osteocalcin, Collagen type1, cbfa1/runx2, ALP, ostepontin, osteonectin, BMP2, BMP24, BMP27, noggin, gremlin, Nestin and HIF1A,VEGFA,PPARG,Leptin. Results: Our experiment results show hypoxia promotes osteogenesis but suppresses adipogenesis.

Tuberculosis Mortality and Living Conditions in Bern, Switzerland, 1856-1950.

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) is a poverty-related disease that is associated with poor living conditions. We studied TB mortality and living conditions in Bern between 1856 and 1950. METHODS We analysed cause-specific mortality based on mortality registers certified by autopsies, and public health reports 1856 to 1950 from the city council of Bern. RESULTS TB mortality was higher in the Black Quarter (550 per 100,000) and in the city centre (327 per 100,000), compared to the outskirts (209 per 100,000 in 1911-1915). TB mortality correlated positively with the number of persons per room (r = 0.69, p = 0.026), the percentage of rooms without sunlight (r = 0.72, p = 0.020), and negatively with the number of windows per apartment (r = -0.79, p = 0.007). TB mortality decreased 10-fold from 330 per 100,000 in 1856 to 33 per 100,000 in 1950, as housing conditions improved, indoor crowding decreased, and open-air schools, sanatoria, systematic tuberculin skin testing of school children and chest radiography screening were introduced. CONCLUSIONS Improved living conditions and public health measures may have contributed to the massive decline of the TB epidemic in the city of Bern even before effective antibiotic treatment became finally available in the 1950s.

NO2-induced nitrate reductase activity in needles of Norway spruce (Picea abies) under laboratory and field conditions

The induction of activity of the enzyme nitrate reductase (NR, EC 1.6.6.1, 1.6.6.2) in needles of Norway spruce (Picea abies[L.] Karst.) by nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was studied under laboratory and field conditions. In fumigation chambers an increase in nitrate reductase activity (NRA) was detected 4 h after the start of the NO2 treatment. During the first 2 days with 100 µg NO2 m−3, NRA reached a constant level and did not change during the following 4 days. At the same level of NO2, NRA was lower in needles from trees grown on NPK-fertilized soil than on non-fertilized soil. After the transfer of spruce trees from fertilized soil to NPK-rich nutrient solution, NRA was transiently increased. This effect was assigned to root injuries causing nitrate transport to the shoot and subsequent induction of NRA. Neither trees on fertilized soil nor trees transferred to NPK-poor nutrient solution had increased NRA unless NO2 was provided. The NO2 gradient in the vicinity of a highway was used to test the long-term effect of elevated levels of NO2 on needle NRA of potted and field-grown spruce trees. Compared with less polluted sites, permanently increased NRAs were detected when NO2 concentrations were above 20 µg m−3. Controls of field measurements some 10 years after the introduction of catalytic converters in cars showed no significant change neither in NO2 levels nor in the decreasing NRA of spruce needles with the distance from the highway.

Geochemical and palynological results of IODP Hole 302-M0004A from Lomonosov Ridge, Arctic Ocean

Several episodes of abrupt and transient warming, each lasting between 50,000 and 200,000 years, punctuated the long-term warming during the Late Palaeocene and Early Eocene (58 to 51 Myr ago) epochs**1,2. These hyperthermal events, such as the Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 (ETM2) that took place about 53.5 Myr ago**2, are associated with rapid increases in atmospheric CO2 content. However, the impacts of most events are documented only locally**3,4. Here we show, on the basis of estimates from the TEX86' proxy, that sea surface temperatures rose by 3-5 °C in the Arctic Ocean during the ETM2. Dinoflagellate fossils demonstrate a concomitant freshening and eutrophication of surface waters, which resulted in euxinia in the photic zone. The presence of palm pollen implies**5 that coldest month mean temperatures over the Arctic land masses were no less than 8 °C, in contradiction of model simulations that suggest hyperthermal winter temperatures were below freezing**6. In light of our reconstructed temperature and hydrologic trends, we conclude that the temperature and hydrographic responses to abruptly increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations were similar for the ETM2 and the better-described Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum**7,8, 55.5 Myr ago.